Crowblack Films is an independent production company specialising in creative led content, artist moving image, narrative film, video design & documentary. 

CROWBLACK FILMS has studios in Cardiff and London and grew out of a long term collaboration between filmmakers Simon Clode & Matt Smith. After years of working together they joined forces to create CROWBLACK FILMS from their own companies Simon Clode Films & VIDEOfeet.

Our production expertise covers documentaries, narrative, short and long form content, video design for live performance. We have a close team of long term collaborators, artists and creatives who bring stories to the screen that stand out.

If you have an idea, we can help bring it to life, turn it into a film, create video design for live performance, an animation, or collaborate on an art project.  So if you'd like to have a chat about how we might work together, get in touch.

Meet the Team

  • Man wearing a hat in black and white portrait

    Simon

    CO DIRECTOR

  • Black and white portrait of a man with short hair and facial hair wearing a dark shirt, looking at the camera.

    Matt

    CO DIRECTOR

  • Black and white photo of a man in a plaid shirt looking into the camera with a neutral expression, indoors.

    Joby

    AERIAL CINEMATOGRAPHER

BIOS

  • CO DIRECTOR

    Simon is a Welsh writer, director and video designer with films broadcast on the BBC, screened in competition at BAFTA qualifying festivals, on national and international theatre stages and in contemporary art galleries; his work truly intercuts many disciplines.

    Isostasy, his latest short film, is currently in competition at festivals and available to watch on the BBC iPlayer, and was a finalist in two categories for the 2021 British Short Film Awards. He worked with Gentle/Radical on their 2021 Turner Prize entry and is currently in pre-production with several short documentaries and narrative films.

    He is the co-founder of Crowblack Films, a Cardiff & London based production company, and one of the directors selected for the BFI Network X BAFTA CREW 2021 programme.

  • CO DIRECTOR

    Matt Smith is a writer/director originally from Watford, UK. He started making experimental short films during his time at Dartington College of Arts, which showed in competition at many BAFTA recognised festivals. He then spent years working as a promo filmmaker, video designer and artist-filmmaker. His artist films have been shown around the world with support from Arts Council England, The Arts Council of Wales and Drac Occitanie - Ministère de la Culture, (France), among others.

    His work often explores unsettling realities and imagined histories, blurring the line between what is real and what is fantasy. He is now focused on making narrative films, after recently completing ‘BUGBEAR’, a short film made during lockdown, which was nominated in 5 categories in the British Short Film Awards including Best British Director and Best Horror.

    His next film, NEW ATLANTIS, is supported by BFI Network.

  • CAMERA OPERATOR & DRONE PILOT

    Joby is a filmmaker and camera operator from Mid Wales who has worked for big brands, arts projects and broadcast productions across the globe. Having cut his teeth as a documentary camera operator working with the 2012 Cultural Olympian project Adain Avion, Joby has since been a documentarian on a broad spectrum of projects including Hollywood films, educational enterprises, arts projects and big budget TV dramas.

    Since 2019 Joby has been the aerial and motion photography lead for the TV documentary series Dream Chasers: Garuda Select on MolaTV, as well as working with the upcoming FX series Welcome to Wrexham.

    As a behind-the-scenes cameraman Joby has filmed on-set with directors including Guy Ritchie, Gavin Hood and Mike Leigh and worked with actors including Matt Smith, Matthew McConaughey, and Michelle Dockery.